Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) bull [Lat. bulla=leaden seal], papal letter. As the diplomatic organization of the papal chancery progressed in the Middle Ages, the papal bull came to be more solemn than the papal brief or encyclica...

(Encyclopedia) bourgeoisie bo͝orzhwäzēˈ [key], originally the name for the inhabitants of walled towns in medieval France; as artisans and craftsmen, the bourgeoisie occupied a socioeconomic position between the...

(Encyclopedia) iconography īˌkŏnŏgˈrəfē [key] [Gr.,=image-drawing] or iconology [Gr.,=image-study], in art history, the study and interpretation of figural representations, either individual or symbolic, reli...

(Encyclopedia) chamber music, ensemble music for small groups of instruments, with only one player to each part. Its essence is individual treatment of parts and the exclusion of virtuosic elements. Originally playe...

(Encyclopedia) Leinster lĕnˈstər, lĭnˈ– [key], province (1991 pop. 1,860,949), 7,580 sq mi (19,632 sq km), E Republic of Ireland, comprising the counties of Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laoighis, Longfo...

(Encyclopedia) Liguria lĭgo͝orˈēə, Ital. lēgo͞oˈryä [key], region (1991 pop. 1,676,282), 2,098 sq mi (5,434 sq km), NW Italy, extending along the Ligurian Sea and bordering France on the west. The generally...

(Encyclopedia) linen, fabric or yarn made from the fiber of flax, probably the first vegetable fiber known to people. Linens more than 3,500 years old have been recovered from Egyptian tombs. Phoenician traders mark...

(Encyclopedia) lingua franca lĭngˈgwə frăngˈkə [key], an auxiliary language, generally of a hybrid and partially developed nature, that is employed over an extensive area by people speaking different and mutua...

(Encyclopedia) pardon, in law, exemption from punishment for a criminal conviction granted by the grace of the executive of a government. A general pardon to a class of persons guilty of the same offense (e.g., insu...

(Encyclopedia) pea, hardy, annual, climbing leguminous plant (Pisum sativum) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), grown for food by humans at least since the early Bronze Age; no longer known in the wild form. ...